Reviews of what I'm reading. Mostly in the Horror genre, but you never know.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Review: The Devil's Colony - by Bill Schweigart - The final book in the Fatal Folklore Trilogy

4 of 5 Stars Review Copy

I love stories set in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. I have a special affinity for stories of the Jersey Devil. However, this particular tale deals with a different kind of devil.

Välkommen.

Lance Whelan and his friend Danny learned about this place...

...on the white power message boards, the conspiracy sites, the doomsday blogs. It was a haven for like-minded individuals and the young men were intrigued by one word more than any other...family.

The Devil's Colony is book three in the Fatal Folklore Trilogy. First, in The Beast of Barcroft, it was what looked like a series of unconnected animal attacks in a suburb of Arlington, Va. A year later, in Northwoods, a strange creature in the waters of Lake Superior. Now, something that ties them all together is happening in The Devil's Colony.

All the usual suspects are back for the conclusion to the trilogy. Lindsay Clark and Ben McKelvie, their leader and world-renowned cryptozoologist Richard Severance. The banter between Severance and his pilot, Erica Cheung, was always fun to read. Then there's the marksman and muscle of the operation, Davis Holland, and Richard's longtime friend Alex Standingcloud.

On the other side of the fence is Richard's one-time friend and now adversary Henry Drexler and his followers.

A white supremacy conclave, monsters, a dollop of H.P. Lovecraft. What more could you ask for? Mounting suspense with just the right amount of humor. It did take more than fifty-percent of the book to get to the weird, but once we got there it was intense. In the conclusion to this trilogy, no one is safe. There were several moments when I just had to sit back and say, "I can't believe that just happened."

With multiple twists and turns and a wild conclusion that requires a total suspension of your disbelief, The Devil's Colony is certainly entertaining.

Although The Devil's Colony could be read as a standalone novel, it really works best if you've read the other books first.

Recommended.

Published by Hydra, and imprint of Random House LLC, The Devil's Colony, is currently available in e-book format only.

From the author's bio - Bill Schweigart is a former Coast Guard officer who drew from his experiences at sea to write the taut nautical thriller, Slipping the Cable. He's spent the last five years working on the Fatal Folklore Trilogy. Bill currently lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and daughter, who along with their monstrous Newfoundland and mischievous kitten, provide him with all the adventure he can handle.